PTSA Contributions to Stillwater 2016-2017

What do we fundraise for?

Thanks to your donations, the PTSA at Stillwater has been able to provide support in so many areas this year! We wanted to spread the word about our efforts this year to help everyone understand what we do at Stillwater and why we fundraise. Here is a list of SOME of our contributions at Stillwater this year.

• Field Trips: The PTSA increased the funds given to Stillwater for field trips this year by $500, to help support the new 3^rd grade field trip to Tillicum Village on Blake Island. That means we gave Stillwater $4,500 to help fund field trips for ALL grades
• Library Enrichment: The PTSA gives Stillwater $1,000 each year for library enrichment. The PTSA also holds a social event during the Book Fair to help draw in more business to the Book Fair. All of these funds are crucial for the library being able to purchase new books.
• PE Enrichment: The PTSA gives Stillwater $1,000 each year for PE.
• Music Enrichment: The PTSA gives Stillwater $1,000 each year for music enrichment.
• All Arts Day: The PTSA gives Stillwater $1,000 each year to help cover the costs of All Arts Day.
• Assemblies: The PTSA increased their giving to Stillwater this year for assemblies from $500 to $1,000. These funds paid for the Reptile Man Assembly and the motivational speaker, Gabe Murfitt (coming in June).
• Classroom Gifts: The PTSA increased their giving to Stillwater teachers this year from $75 per teacher to $100 per teacher. Teachers are able to use the funds at their discretion for needed expenses that come up in the classrooms or school. This was a total of $1,900.
• Scholarships: The PTSA gave $885 to the Sno-Valley Scholarship fund to provide college scholarships to previous Stillwater students. This was an increase of $85 from last year due to additional donations during the membership drive for the Bob Scharer Scholarship.
• Kinder Playdate: The PTSA spent $85.55 this year to hold a Kinder Playdate in the fall where all new kindergarteners were invited to come to the playground before meet the teacher and get to know their new classmates.
• Hospitality Room: The PTSA hosted a hospitality room during the first week of school to welcome new families to Stillwater.
• Teacher and School Grants: The PTSA awarded 8 staff grants during the first grant season in December for a total of $6,612.93, see below for more details.
• Safety Patrol & Student Council Recognition: The PTSA provides Stillwater with $1,000 to recognize the efforts of the safety patrol and student council students at the end of the year.
• Art Docent Expenses: Not only does the PTSA maintain the curriculum for art docent and secure and train the volunteers who teach the lessons, but we also purchase all the supplies. This program costs $4,000 a year to run. We spent an additional $1,000 on the program this year to buy a slab roller table due to the new kiln that was installed over the summer.
• Kiln: The PTSA, Stillwater administration and district worked hard to bring a kiln to Stillwater last summer (we were the only school in the district without one). The PTSA spent $1,000 to purchase a slab roller to be used for clay lessons.
• Multicultural Night: this was a new event for Stillwater and a joint effort between Stillwater and the PTSA. So many community members supported this event by donating supplies and volunteering their time. It was a HUGE success!
• Reflections: The PTSA administers this nationwide art contest at Stillwater each year. We had 4 Stillwater students make it to the WA State PTA finals.
• Talent Show: The PTSA runs the talent show at Stillwater with the help of lead volunteers and staff judges.
• The Dance Guy: The ever so popular “Dance Guy” who comes to Stillwater for a week to teach kids dance moves during their specialist hour costs the PTSA $2,100 a year.
• Back to School BBQ, Monster Mash Dance, Turkey Bingo, Valentine’s Bingo and the Spring Dance were all social events that the PTSA powered this year.
• Playground Equipment: The PTSA purchased some replacement parts for the the small kindergarten playground for a total of $1,226.09.
• Staff Luncheon: The PTSA provided lunch to the Stillwater staff at the start of the year.
• Yearbook: The PTSA makes the yearbook at Stillwater Elementary.
• Staff Appreciation: The PTSA coordinates the festivities that surround Staff Appreciation Week at Stillwater.
• Dads and Donuts, Moms and Me, Open Basketball Nights, Zumba Nights, Dodgeball Night: The PTSA plans and runs these free community outreach events.
• Girls on the Run: The PTSA provides Stillwater $100 for the Girls on the Run club.
• Random Acts of Kindness: The PTSA provides Stillwater $100 for them to use during their promotion of Random Acts of Kindness Week.
• Training: 7 PTSA Board Members attended over 25 training classes at Washington State PTA Convention. There, our PTSA was also awarded 4 standards of excellence awards at President’s Reception – Silver Level Outstanding Newsletter & E-Blast, Gold Level Outstanding Communication Strategy, Gold Level Outstanding Website and Gold Level Standards of Excellence!

Additional details for the grants line items listed above.

The initial budget for “Teacher and School Grants” this year was $4,000. We had 8 grant requests submitted in November for a total of $6,612.93. Due to your support during the Hop-a-Thon in the fall, we were able to increase the grant line item on the budget at the December general membership meeting and award 100% of the grants submitted. Here is a brief breakdown of the grants submitted and awarded in December:

1) 6 iPads and 3 OSMO gaming systems with STEAM related games for the 5th grade team

2) A range oven for the staff lounge

3) Headphone splitters for the 2nd grade team to allow more students to use the iPads at one time

4) Art supplies for the kindergarten classrooms

5) Teacher Guides for the Phonics Blast Foundations curriculum submitted by Deanne Hass

6) Resources that support the building of fine motor skills for the kindergarten classrooms

7) Leadership conference for the school’s counselor

8) Storage shed for PE and Recess Equipment

The success of the Stillwater Experiences Silent Auction in February and the Hawk Walk in May allowed us to open a second grant season in the spring. We received a whopping $16,281.70 in grant requests and will be asking the general membership in June to increase the line item for grants to award $14,203.19 of those grants submitted (we don’t have the funds to do the entire amount, so those not awarded this time will roll into next year).

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!